Ranji camp
in Ranchi

Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) has switched gears to emphasise on players’ fitness having conducted a practice camp for pacers and spinners recently.

With the two-week under-19 conditioning camp already underway in Jamshedpur, focus will now shift to JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi which will host a similar exercise for senior cricketers (read Ranji Trophy participants) from August 24 onwards.

The fortnight-long camp will be intensive in nature and the stress would be on players’ fitness for the upcoming domestic season.

Though JSCA is yet to announce the shortlist for the Ranji camp, sources said batting mainstay Saurabh Tiwary and under-19 skipper Virat Singh will surely join.

Virat’s under-19 mates from Ranchi, wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan and all-rounder Kaushal Singh, will also be sweating it out at the conditioning camp.

“I have regained my fitness. The rehab stint at National Cricket Academy in Bangalore has done a world of good to me. I am looking forward to the Ranchi camp,” Tiwary, who had a surgery in his right shoulder, said.

The left-handed batsman, who emerged top-scorer for Jharkhand in last season’s Ranji Trophy, said he batted at the nets and felt no pain in the shoulder.

“There was no pain even while throwing. This indicates that I have regained my form. Things will be clear at the conditioning camp,” Tiwary told The Telegraph.

JSCA assistant secretary Aseem Kumar Singh said Virat, Ishan and Kaushal will also be attending the conditioning camp. “All three are talented players and have performed well in the last season. They have played the Ranji one-dayer but have the capability of performing in the four-day matches,too,” he said.

City-based Virat was vice-captain of the East Zone outfit in the inter-zonal one-day tournament held in Mysore in June. The 17-year-old was subsequently selected for the India under-19 camp.